Page 130 of Size King

With that out of the way, I am free to go about my day and figure out how things work around Dustin’s bike shop. Since I’d been trained over at Jacob’s shop, I know how things operate for the most part.

The day is slow. I get two customers that are coming in just for a tire repair, and Kelsey is already hard at work on filling out her W2 form.

I see Dustin frequently during the day. I’m hoping that being around him through all hours of my workday will help me discover what my best course of action is regarding our relationship status.

I’m still unsure of what to do.

53

Dustin

Megan starts working for me on Monday. A couple of days later, on Wednesday, she is still as antisocial and quiet as she’d been on her first day. I know that I’ve told her to ‘take as much time’ as she needs, but each day feels like a week when I would go through the many hours at the shop and not even hear her voice. I’m not going to keep going to work and get nothing from her.

We have a busy morning, so I don’t bother Megan that much at first. I suspect that business is already coming back now that Ultra-Cycle is without a team.

Once things have slowed down, I go up to the front desk and join her.

“How are you doing today so far?” I ask.

“Good,” she replies. “You?”

“Well, I’m happy to see that we’re getting a good surge of business,” I say. “I’ve got to admit, I’ve been a little down lately.”

“Why?” she wonders.

“I miss you,” I tell her plainly. “I wanted to keep things light and simple, but I can’t. We’ve been through too much already for us to just pretend like we aren’t thinking about each other.”

“Dustin, all I’ve thought about is you,” says Megan. “You, the kids… I’ve been thinking about all of it.”

“Could you share some of your thoughts with me?” I ask.

“I’ve been thinking about a lot,” she repeats. “I don’t know where I’d begin.”

“Just tell me about your main concerns,” I say.

“Well, I still worry about Jacob,” says Megan.

“Everything regarding Jacob has been handled,” I tell her. “You have nothing to worry about. He and his cronies won’t be coming anywhere near Reno for quite a while.”

“What does that mean?” she wonders.

“Jacob and the Hell-Snakes are out of Nevada,” I declare. “You have no reason to worry.”

“Do I want to know?” she asks with raised eyebrows.

“Probably not,” I reply. “But you can take my words as gospel. He’s gone. You’re safe. We’re all safe.”

She licks her lips. “Well… that is good to know.”

“Right!” I say. “So, what do you say? Will you talk to me again?”

She walks right up to me, leans on her tiptoes, and we share a kiss.

“Nice,” I mutter.

Megan giggles and begins playing with my shirt. “Sorry I’ve been so quiet.”

“Don’t apologize,” I say. “You don’t have to like… be my girlfriend or something. I just need you to talk with me.”